Introduction
Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Theory is presently the most popular and effective means of research in psychology. This theory states that people can learn more about their strengths, skills, and personal qualities. It is a valuable resource for nursing research. It relates self-care to several important concepts in nursing research: values, context, evaluation, and decisions.
Nursing theory can be applied to studying education, healthcare services, medical practice, patient care, and social policy issues, such as creating health policies that foster individual responsibility for health promotion. This paper will discuss how self-care theory can be applied to research and provide insight into what self-care is and how it plays an important role in occupational therapy.
Background
Theorist’s Background
Dorothea Orem is an American psychologist who has contributed to the field of human resources. She is known for her research on employee satisfaction and her work on self-management and self-care. Orem’s self-care theory is based on a psychological model that suggests that employees are more likely to be engaged in their work when caring for themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The theory is an overarching framework for understanding the research process and the personal and professional experiences that motivate it. The theory encompasses three major components: self-care, objectivity, and emotional management (Mills, 2021).
Orem’s research has been primarily focused on developing strategies for building better relationships with oneself through mindfulness practices (Choi & Moore, 2020). In her professional life, Orem works as a clinical psychologist at a private practice in New Jersey, where she sees clients experiencing anxiety or depression related to their work or home lives. She teaches mindfulness classes at local universities like Rutgers University and Princeton University, where students learn to practice meditation techniques to better manage stress at work or school.
Phenomenon of Concern
Orem’s theory is based on the idea that people need self-care, which involves taking time for themselves, regardless of their life circumstances. It means that even if people are struggling with depression or anxiety, they should still take care of themselves by spending time with loved ones and doing things that make them happy. Researchers can use this theory when they conduct studies about how people respond to different stimuli (Bredow & Peterson, 2017). For example, if a researcher wants to know how people react to being abused by their partners, they might ask them questions about their relationship with their partner and what they do when they feel stressed out or angry. The researcher could then observe how these responses relate to each other regarding how much stress they experience and their overall emotional health.
Theory Description
Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Theory is a middle-range theory. It focuses on how people care for themselves, and it strongly focuses on the individual rather than the group or society. This theory is rooted in self-care, but it considers other aspects of health, such as mental health and social support. Orem wrote her paper “The Application of Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Theory to Research” for the Journal of Self-Care in 2007 (Mills, 2021). In this paper, she argues that research should be done on self-care because it is an important aspect of health that cannot be ignored. She shows how self-care can help people with depression or anxiety disorders feel better about themselves and stay healthier longer. Orem then makes recommendations for future research into self-care practices so they can be studied more closely.
Concepts
The theorist Dorothea Orem uses self-care to help people understand how to care for themselves, whether caring for their body or mind. She defines self-care as a life strategy that includes external and internal strategies for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional health (Peterson & Bredow, 2016). The first concept that Orem describes is self-awareness. Self-awareness means people know themselves and their feelings, thoughts, and actions.
The second concept is self-management, which means learning how to manage oneself so one can make good decisions about what one does with one’s life (Olubiyi et al., 2022). The third concept is self-expression, which means expressing oneself through words and actions in positive ways for everyone and others (Butts & Rich, 2017). These three concepts help people understand how they can improve their lives by caring for themselves better than ever before.
Relationships
Nursing systems, self-care deficit, and self-care concepts are all related to one another in some way. The first three concepts are all related to the concept of nursing systems. A nursing system is a set of interconnected processes that contribute to a person’s healthcare needs and outcomes (Olubiyi et al., 2022). It is divided into three main components: caregiving, health-promoting behaviors, and disease prevention (Olubiyi et al., 2022).
The first component is caregiving; in this case, nurses care for patients by monitoring their vital signs and taking medications when needed. If something is wrong with the patient, nurses may need to find out what it is and how it should be administered before doing so (Olubiyi et al., 2022). The second component is health-promoting behaviors such as eating well or getting enough sleep (Olubiyi et al., 2022). These habits can help prevent diseases from occurring in the first place by keeping the body healthy so that it does not get sick often or easily (Olubiyi et al., 2022). The third component involves disease prevention by providing information about diseases such as cancer or diabetes, which may occur later on down the line.
Evaluation
Weaknesses
In applying Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Theory to research, the researcher found some weaknesses in the theory. Orem’s theory can leave unexamined concepts and gaps. For example, Orem does not address the role of self-care in the lives of children and teens. She does not discuss how people with disabilities may use self-care practices differently. Additionally, the study did not find evidence that Orem considered how individuals can use self-care at risk for or who have been diagnosed with mental illness.
Metaparadigms
Self-care theory is a framework that describes the relationship between patients, environments, nurses, and health within the context of nursing. The theory has been applied to many areas of nursing research, such as patient satisfaction, safety, and care quality (Butts & Rich, 2017). While the self-care theory has been used in many areas of nursing research, it does not describe all four metaparadigms. This means that it may not describe health or the environment well enough to apply its principles to research. For example, while it describes how nurses can make their environment friendlier for patients by providing good lighting, it does not describe how patients can make their environment friendlier for themselves.
Application
Studies That Used the Theory
In the past few years, there has been an explosion of research on self-care. One study using this approach was conducted by Mills (2021), who asked participants about their perceptions of their ability to take care of themselves in five areas: physical health, such as eating right and sleeping enough; emotional health, mental health, social support, and spiritual well-being. Both men and women were found to have similar levels of satisfaction with these categories, though women tended to be slightly more satisfied with mental health than men.
Another study using this approach examined how self-care affects mental health outcomes (Martínez et al., 2021). This study found that individuals who engaged in more self-care behaviors have better outcomes on mental health measures than those who do not engage in any self-care behaviors. The researchers suggested that some form of self-care may help improve mental health outcomes by promoting positive emotions and reducing negative ones such as sadness.
Area of Practice
To test this theory, the study will use a qualitative approach. The first step in this research process is identifying a phenomenon that could be tested using self-care theory. For example, it might focus on the relationship between self-care and mental health. After identifying the target phenomenon, it will review the literature on self-care theory and find evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis. This process can be used multiple times until the study finds support for the hypothesis in the literature.
Once evidence supports the hypothesis, it is time to operationalize the ideas using Orem’s Self-Care Theory. First, the study needs to define self-care: “Self-care is taking care of oneself by managing one’s behavior, thoughts, emotions and well-being” (Olubiyi et al., 2022, p.216). Next, it will examine how people can care for themselves by managing their behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and well-being.
Conclusion
Self-care theory is important in nursing because it helps nurses understand why patients are the way they are. The self-care theory explains how the body reacts to disease and how a response might differ between people in similar health conditions. In addition, this theory is important because it helps nurses understand a patient’s mind and build trust with their patients to encourage healthy behaviors.
References
Bredow, T. S., & Peterson, S.J. (2017). Middle range theories: Application to nursing research and practice (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2017). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Choi, E., & Moore, G. (2020). A case for cultural awareness. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 16(2), 163–164. Web.
Martínez, N., Connelly, C. D., Pérez, A., & Calero, P. (2021). Self-care: A concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 8(4), 418-425. Web.
Mills, J. (2021). Theoretical foundations for self-care practice. Progress in Palliative Care, 29(4), 183-185. Web.
Olubiyi, S. K., Ibitoye, O. F., Onasoga, O., Shaibu, E. O., Ibitoye, B., & Nyamngee, A. (2022). Nurses’ application of Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory towards management of chronically-ill patients at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State. Web.
Orem’s, D. (2011). Description of the Model – Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Theory. Google.com. Web.
Peterson, S. J., & Bredow, T. S. (2016). Middle range theories: Application to nursing research (4th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.